Continental Breakfast at Home

Here's a new way to party: Make like a five-star hotel
with a pastry buffet and all the delicious trimmings

The Continental breakfast, that room-service favorite, also
happens to be a great way to feed a morning crowd. An assortment
of pastries and breads means that there is something to please
everyone. The cook will be happy, too, because everything can be
done ahead.

This menu is as easy as a breakfast
Bundt studded with blueberries, scones, and some surprisingly
simple petits pains au chocolat. The cake and
pastries can be made the night before, and the no-fuss jam a
couple of days before that. In the morning, the delicious scones
 flavored with fennel seeds, golden raisins, and walnuts
 can be whipped up from scratch in about 20 minutes. As
friends walk in, the house will be enveloped in a buttery,
welcoming aroma.

Instead of the usual orange juice,
try one or two of my refreshing and colorful juice mixes (see
below). Add a basket of store-bought artisanal breads (think
seven-grain, challah, and baguettes) and pots of double-strength
coffee. Set it all out, then enjoy the company  and your
own handiwork.

Juice Mixology
Combine fruit juices and you'll get not only a drink with an
impressive depth of flavor but also raves from the crowd. Try one
of these combinations or devise your own.

• Mix pear nectar with orange juice, and finish with a
squeeze of fresh lime juice.

• Peach
nectar gets some zing with a bit of freshly squeezed ginger juice,
which is made by grating ginger onto a kitchen towel and squeezing
to extract the juice.

• Puree seedless
watermelon in a blender or food processor; add mango or passion
fruit nectar and a squirt of lemon juice.